The vaccine race is on: London borough winners and losers
Richmond currently wears the crown as the London borough that has vaccinated the highest proportion of its adult population, according to the latest NHS data.
The south west London borough has vaccinated 132,627 of its residents with a first dose – 85 per cent of its 156,399 population over the age of 16.
Richmond also scored highly for second vaccines: 55 per cent of adults living in the borough have received both doses.
Following closely behind, Merton was in second place in the latest data, with 80 per cent of adult residents (or 129,611) vaccinated with a first dose.
In last place, Westminster currently lags behind as the borough with the smallest proportion of adult residents vaccinated at 55 per cent, or 120,158.
The NHS data is accurate up to the end of Saturday, and reports the vaccination data purely based on numbers. It’s worth bearing in mind that 74 per cent of Richmond’s population is over 30 years old, according to the latest census data, which may account for its higher take-up rate.
Similarly, Westminster’s lower take-up rate could largely be explained by the significant proportion of Westminster’s pre-pandemic population that has moved out of the city to a second home or abroad.
When it comes to the sheer number of vaccines administered, Barnet is the London borough in the lead, with 222,379 first doses received. Following closely behind are: Croydon (208,702), Bromley (208,415), Ealing (207,628) and Wandsworth (200,148).
Surge testing took place on Sunday in Clapham, Brixton, Stockwell, West Norwood and Vauxhall following a rise in confirmed cases of the Delta variant first found in India.
43m people in the UK have now received their first vaccine, and 31m have received their second, giving them maximum protection against the virus.
The Delta variant now accounts for 99 per cent of new Covid-19 cases in the UK, according to Public Health England.